1789 George Washington Inaugural and lots more!

Z.K.

Bronze Member
Jun 16, 2015
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Hey fellow diggers

Part I: Today
Man am I glad I played hooky today! Just found a beautiful WI 12B 1789 George Washington Inaugural Button. I’m really, really happy with this find. Light toothpicking and a little ole’ trusty forehead oil and I think I’ll leave the cleaning at that.
gw dirty.jpg IMG_2351.JPG IMG_2354.JPG IMG_2358.JPG -Shanktastic!



Also found an 1800 draped, the obverse condition of which makes lady liberty look like a zombie
1800 draped.JPG

and what looks to be a counterfeit KGIII…
kgiii2.JPG IMG_2347.JPG

so wanted it to be another Machin’s Mint but I can’t make a solid match. It’s awfully underweight though, so I’m pretty certain it isn’t regal.

It was a beautiful day, and I visited three sites. I feel fortunate to detect in such idyllic conditions.

Good old fashioned Vermont traffic jam:
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DSC_0118.JPG DSC_0097 (2).jpg meadow.jpg

Part II: Oh, Canada!
Last weekend marked the 375th birthday of Montreal, and my first visit up there to detect. A fantastic trip with a gracious, generous, and fun host, Aureus/Anton. It is quite something for any of us to share prized hunting ground and be a good egg; I look forward to returning the favor. Managed to find an 1837 Montreal “Bouquet” One Sou bank token
1837 one sou.JPG

and, after a lengthy mineral oil soak, just discovered the identity of the only other large copper I found: an 1835 “Ships, Colonies, & Commerce” ½ penny token.
DSC_0130.JPG

The second chapter of the weekend involved the recovery of a significant number of US Civil War era minie balls.
canada1.JPG

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Some pics of the Canadian coins with today's finds
DSC_0122.JPG DSC_0121.JPG

Part III: The Curse of Abe Lincoln
Since finding a trime 6 weeks ago I was able to get out a few hours each week, being highly selective given my time constraints. I kept my coil over land that took a fair amount of research to ID, and effort to gain solid permissions. And as this collection of relics attests, I was in the right places…yet everywhere I went, Abe Lincoln reared his head: not a coin earlier than 1912! Even on an abandoned log cabin site, not even on the 1800s maps, with no other material later than 1830? Yup, good old Abe came up smiling (at least it was a wheatie). Beset by 20th century coinage and tail between my legs, I had to go to Canada to break the curse with that One Sou coin. Jeez Louise!

That said, I did recover some great relics, all of which, along with some of the finds from today, will be going to the local historical society and owners.

My favorites include the copper powder flask in the center (I dinged it with my shovel…bad detectorist)
IMG_2323.JPG

Some iron...just haven't finished processing it all yet
IMG_2322.JPG

Dandy buttons and lovely pewter spoon head with shell motif
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Quartet of rosettes
DSC_0129 (2).jpg

Well, that's it for me. Thanks for looking/commenting, and good luck out there!
 

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Z.K.

Z.K.

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Congratualtions on the Fantastic Relic and coin hunt! :notworthy:
Hey Prof, thanks so much! Multiple hunts over the last 6 weeks, some of which were darn near fruitless.

It's posts like these that the rest of us dream of. Well done on gaining the permissions and the research behind it. You earned that hoard of goodies sir.
Thanks for the kind words, Kurios. Good luck to you
 

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Z.K.

Z.K.

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PS: If anyone could help me with some idea of the value of this, I'd appreciate it. I'd like to give the land owner half the value and keep it, and I'm seeing prices all over the map. Comment or PM. Thanks
 

Evolution

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Aug 2, 2007
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Upstate NY
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Awesome GW button. Definitely a big one to check off the bucket list. Congrats! :occasion14:
 

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Z.K.

Z.K.

Bronze Member
Jun 16, 2015
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Awesome GW button. Definitely a big one to check off the bucket list. Congrats! :occasion14:

Thanks for your comment Evolution. Always good to check one off the list.
 

Scrappy

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Mar 6, 2014
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Most excellent hunts! That's a great variety of digs and very kind of Aureus for the "Oh Canada!" Invite;)

Great 6-point Estoile variety GW. Also, the ship's token is one I've been wanting for a while and I'm super happy to see you got to dig one.

Cheers
 

treblehunter

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Jun 18, 2013
9,675
11,295
New Jersey
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My banner vote is in, congrats on some nice finds!
 

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Z.K.

Z.K.

Bronze Member
Jun 16, 2015
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The Grants
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Etrac
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Most excellent hunts! That's a great variety of digs and very kind of Aureus for the "Oh Canada!" Invite;)

Great 6-point Estoile variety GW. Also, the ship's token is one I've been wanting for a while and I'm super happy to see you got to dig one.

Cheers

Thanks, Steve. I can imagine a mariner like you loving one of these. I thought it was totally gone, but when I tried to clean a little and suddenly saw rigging, I was blown away. And now it looks like a ship shrouded in mist!

Hope you find yours soon.
 

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Z.K.

Z.K.

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Jun 16, 2015
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A GW is still on my bucket list. Great save!

Thanks so much, over-the-mountain neighbor! Good to see your name pop up...truly hard to believe with all you've found that you haven't gotten one of these. Surely just a matter of time, amigo.
 

Silver Tree Chaser

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Aug 12, 2012
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Congrats on your recovery of GWI button - one of the very best finds of early Americana that a detectorists can hope to find! :icon_thumleft:
 

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Z.K.

Z.K.

Bronze Member
Jun 16, 2015
1,011
1,412
The Grants
Detector(s) used
Etrac
Primary Interest:
Metal Detecting
Congrats on your recovery of GWI button - one of the very best finds of early Americana that a detectorists can hope to find! :icon_thumleft:

Thank you kindly, Chaser. I share your sentiments and am glad I was able to recover this from the ravages of time. : )
 

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